Ask a lawyer on the topic of Family law

Maintenance and child support

February 27, 2011 | 50,00 EUR | answered by Steffan Schwerin

Regarding the matter:
I am a soldier and have a one-year-old daughter. We do not live together with the father of the child and have never lived together with him. Before the birth of my daughter, I received a net salary of 1842 euros minus 16 euros for PPV as my salary.
The father of my daughter is also a soldier and has a monthly net salary of 3,020 euros. He owns a home in the Eifel region and resides in an apartment at his duty station, for which he receives a monthly tax-free reimbursement of 560 euros in addition to his salary. He also receives a monthly family home visit allowance and separation pay in an unknown amount, also tax-free in addition to his salary.
The distance from the apartment at his duty station to his place of duty is 2 km. The monthly PPV contribution is 16 euros. He also has liability insurances for which he pays 47 euros per month (30 euros for car liability and 17 euros for personal liability per month).
The father of my daughter has been divorced since May 2003 and has three children from this marriage, aged 17, 13, and 11. The eldest son lives with him in the household. He has to pay 254 euros each in maintenance to the other children and 410 euros per month in spousal support to his ex-wife.

Now to my questions:
1) In what amount am I entitled to maintenance support and can I claim this retroactively?
2) Am I entitled to maintenance support even if I work part-time/full-time and have the child looked after by a childminder or similar?
3) In what amount is my daughter entitled to maintenance support after the DDT?
4) Does the father of the child have to pay for the health insurance contributions for my daughter? Since we both are under military medical care, it is not possible to have a family insurance for my daughter.

I kindly request a response including the calculation methods and legal sources.

Steffan Schwerin

Dear inquirer,

I am happy to answer your questions as follows:

1) How much spousal support am I entitled to and can I claim it retroactively?

The father can be obligated to pay you child care support according to § 1615 l of the German Civil Code until the child reaches the age of 3.

The amount of spousal support to be claimed also depends on the income situation, similar to separation support, and corresponds to a 3/7 portion of the deductible difference income.

However, the calculation basis for post-divorce maintenance is subject to stricter standards. For example, obligations such as a home loan, for the person who now lives in the house alone, are no longer deductible, as these amounts serve for wealth accumulation and no wealth may be built at the expense of maintenance. Otherwise, one could intentionally make oneself unable to pay maintenance. This is not permissible. During the separation period, each spouse should be given the opportunity to reorient themselves, especially in the economic field, and to remove unnecessary burdens. It may be necessary to sell the originally jointly owned property in favor of maintenance payments.

Roughly estimated, you are entitled to a monthly amount of 500.00 euros. However, the man's maintenance obligations towards the total of 4 children must also be taken into account, so he may end up reaching his self-sufficiency limit, leaving you with no further claim.

2) Am I entitled to child care support even if I work part-time/full-time and have the child cared for by a daycare provider or similar?

In general, you are entitled to child care support only if you do not work in order to care for the child.

3) How much child support is my daughter entitled to after the divorce?

In general, 381 euros would have to be paid for the child.

With 4 children, the payment amount decreases to 273.50 euros.

4) Does the child's father have to pay for the contributions to my daughter's health insurance?

If the child must be privately or voluntarily insured under statutory health insurance, the father must also contribute to the costs.